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a Bit of History
Allotments as we know them have their roots in the nineteenth century, when land was made available to the poor (the 'labouring population') for food growing.
The Small Holdings and Allotments Act came into force in 1908. But it wasn’t until the end of the First World War that land was made widely available to all and not just the poor, and this change was made primarily to assist returning servicemen.
The 1908 Act established the current framework whereby, if there is a demand for allotments within a district council's area then they have a statutory duty to provide a sufficient number of plots.
Subsequent Allotments Acts of 1922 and 1925 specifies that land purchased or appropriated by local authorities for use as allotments must not be disposed of without Ministerial consent.
(for more information see https://www.allotment-garden.org/allotment-information/allotment-history/)
Digging for Victory
In 2020 we celebrated the 75th anniversary of VE day, and who would have thought that vegetable gardening played its part in that victory?
Food rationing had been introduced during WW2 to ensure that the available supplies were available to all. Supplies to Britain from overseas were limited because of U-Boat attacks which could have starved the country into submission.
The Dig for Victory campaign was introduced to encourage the entire country to use all available land - particularly gardens - to grow fruit and vegetables. This not only supplemented the nation’s diet but, growing our own food, also meant that there was more space available on merchant ships to transport weapons and other essential materials that were needed to keeping the armed forces supplied. In fact “the public were, in general, healthier and better fed from a nutritional standpoint than they are today”.
The rotation plan used during the campaign (for a 10 rod plot) produced average weekly yields of edible vegetables ranging between 11lbs in spring to 20lbs during winter..
The dig for victory campaign is remembered to this day and is celebrated and applied on allotments and garden vegetable plots across the UK.
For more information see the following links:
https://dig-for-victory.org.uk/
https://www.allotment-garden.org/book/dig-for-victory-guides/
He began to dig at 9.30am. His allotment had been a good deal neglected, and the ground happened to be hard. Presently he found himself afflicted with acute sensations in the back. He begun to wonder what men on allotments did when they felt tired. A thought struck him—a reminiscence of his wide and curious reading. Observing a small girl seated on the railing which bordered the allotments he approached her. “Child,” said he kindly, “be good enough to go to the nearest public-house…"
(Tales of Two People, Anthony Hope, 1907)
Allotment poetry
‘The Allotment’ by Jill Bamber…
You were doubled digging heavy clay
According to the plan that reached to Autumn
Drawn out in different coloured inks,
The wind-shield hedge, the bark chip paths,
Two rows set aside for leeks,
Four for seed potatoes.
And I walked down the catkin path that day
To ask what you’d like for dinner.
‘Lamb Stew’ you said, ‘with these’
And dug two parsnips, deeply ringed
Awesome as inverted urns
Comfortably carried.
Lamb stew, so lean it could be grass,
Each small silk-coated gold shallot
Ring-cut, runner beans as fresh as leaves
With eyes, those bean-cut eyes,
Some kept to sow. Beetroot bleeding,
Searching earth and going round its stones
And finding ways. Obscene five-fingered
Carrot roots, how do they draw
Such orange from damp clay?
Your aching back and clever hands
Know how to conjure life
And when to feed me.
From a poetry completion run by Gardeners’ World in June 2011
When to start an allotment
There is never a good time to start an allotment!
If you start in spring, the weeds get away from you faster than you can get to them, and each time you visit less of your plot is visible under the mounds of bind weed, carpets, of couch grass and thickets of bramble...
In the autumn, on the other hand, you’ll find that every visit reveals a new grim truth that the growth of summer had hidden. The cute brick path turns out to be slippery and even death trap when it rains. The shed roof leaks…
If you get your plot in the summer it will allow you into a full sense of security, so that instead of tearing almost everything out or down, as you’d intended, you lounge around harvesting perennial fruits planted by a previous incumbent…
And in winter… well, taking on an allotment in the dead months is a bit like being in a zombie movie - the whole place is dead, there seems to be nobody about to advise you and there are few suspicious looking twigs on an otherwise bare plot that could be plants, or weeds, or the gnarled fingers of a spectacularly gothic but poorly buried corpse…
(from “Minding my Peas and Cucumbers” a book about allotment life by Kay Sexton)
Allotment Jokes
I was in my garden this morning and a neighbour peered over the fence and asked what I was doing.
"Putting my plants in alphabetical order" I replied.
She said "Really? I don't know how you find the time".
"Oh, that's easy," I said, "it's right next to the sage!"
Why did the scarecrow get an award?
It was out standing in its field!
I went to my allotment last week and some soil was missing. I went there a few days later and some more of it had gone. I think I’m losing the plot!
I went back to my allotment a few weeks later and there was more of it there. The plot had thickened!
A few weeks after planting his lettuce seeds the grower was delighted to see some green growth emerging from the soil - but it was just the tip of the iceberg!
Have you read the book about the small vegetable garden?
Not much of a plot.
What's red and whispers?
A hoarse radish!
Q: What do you call it when worms take over the world?
A: Global Worming.
Why are allotment gardeners so rich?
They're always raking it in.
A new member of the Longcroft Allotment Association took over a run-down, weed-ridden plot. Just as he started to work the plot the vicar stopped by and blessed the plot - "may God work with you to transform this piece of land". Six months later, the plot was indeed transformed. The vicar noticed the rich and abundant plot and said "see what you have achieved with the help of God". "Yes,” replied the member, “but can you remember what it was like when God was looking after it on his own?".
Q. How do you turn ordinary clothes into allotment clothes?
A. Mix with compost.
Q: Why did the potatoes argue?
A: They couldn't see eye to eye.
Q. What do you call a cauliflower at the edge of your plot?
A. A border cauli!
If a plant is sad do other plants photosympathise with it?
Q: What does Thomas you get when he divides the circumference of his pumpkin by its diameter?
A: Pumpkin pi.
If you have any gardening jokes then please lettuce know.